Inflated ball.



J. E. WHISTLER.

-INFLATBD BALL. .l APPLICATION FILED JAN.15, 1909.

992,832. Y Patented May 23, 1911.

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JoHN nswiilsriisn, 'orj 'sANTA'BAit'Bm CALIFORNIA.

'To all'whom 'it-may concern: Beit; known that I, JOHN E. 4lViiis'rLsii, la citizen of the United' States, residing at Santa Barbara, in the county of Santa Baijbara Vandl State of California, have invented following is a specification.

' It is the ob'ect ofthe` present invention to improve the construction of ffootfballs,

'punching-bags, basket'ball's,"jand all similar' devices in'Whi'ch an inner inflatable bagf'forz,`

the like is,I inclos'ediiin'f-'aiiouter protective bag'. In thepres'ent construction of such devices, the innei bagnis usually introduced: l into the covering therefor through' a slit cut` in the said coveringi'and the slit is thentightly laced so as to close the covering around the said inflatable bag, the bag being of course first inflated. Such construction is however undesirable in many respects,

chiefly for the reason that the lacing strings t are liable to become broken while the ball is in use and furthermore, considerable time is required in the operation of lacing up the slit in the covering bag.

It is the object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a game device of this class inwhich the disadvantages incident to lacing up the outer bag or covering will be overcome and the complete closing of the said covering or bag may be had in a few seconds of time and without the annoyance due to arranging and manipulating the strings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a game ball embodying the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken transversely across the closure for the outer bag or covering for the ball, and Fig. 3 is a group showing the plug member of the closure device in position to be applied or inserted in the opening in the said cover bag.

In the drawings, the inner or inflatable bag or similar velement of the game device is indicated in general. by the reference character A, and the outer orcovering bag by the reference character B. The inflatable bag is of the ordinary construction and is either to be initially placed within the' covering bag B and the said bag then stitched to completely embrace and close the same or ma be inserted through an opening which is formed in the cover bag to permit of access to the inner bag.

The opening in the cover bag, referred to l y Specificationofl'iettersl'atent. i rtnjed luy' 23, 1911 Appiica'iion ined-January 15; 1909. sriaiNQ..472,5os.

above, isindicated by'A thewnuii'ieral 5 and riveted or otherwise secured to thefiiiner side 'of thematerial of thevbag and,surrounding y 4this opening 5A is' anannulus 6; a portion? of the sameiprojecting inwardly beyond the -edge of said opening .ias is'clearly. shown in Figs. 2 and 3' of the drawings This annulus is preferably forinedfroni sheet metal andvata point in Pits circumference, has its inneredge vcut away as indicated bythe numeral 7 and hasa tongue' Sefoifiiiedatoiie;

side-oftheJ cut-away portion and bent-outwardly to a slight degreeias clearlyfsliown in `1Theopeiiiiig in the cover bag abovededesigned. tof be closed,I wlinfftlieb device is in use, by means of a plug embody-` scribed 'is'.

ing the invention and this plug is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, in'which figure it is shown in section, as comprised of an outer disk 9, preferably of leather of the same thickness and quality as that employed in the manufacture of the cover bag B of the device. .The said plug is comprised further of disks 10 and 11, the former of which is disposed next to the disk 9.or more specifically speaking against its inner face, and the latter of which is held spaced at its edge from the disk 10, by means of a disk 12 which is disposed between the disks 10 and 11 and is of less diameter than the said disks. The disks 10, 11 and 12 are preferably formed of stout sheet metal and the three disks 9, 10 and 11 are all of the same diameter and all of the disks are secured together by means of rivets or of suitable fastening devices 13 fast therethrough in a circular series adjacent the edges of the said disks, there being a space left between the edge portions of the disks 10 and 11 as will be observed from an inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawings. Between the said spaced edge portions of the disks 10 and 11, the inner edge portion of the annulus 6 is to be received, then the plug is properly inserted into the opening, and to permit of such insertion of the plug into the opening, the

disk 11 of theplug is provided, at one point in its edge, with a cut-away portion 14 which is similar to the cut-away portion 7 of vthe annulus 6 and also, at one side of the said cut-away portion 14, the disk 11 is formed with an inwardly benttongue 15 which, when the plug is properly placed in the opening, will upon rotation of the plug,

engage-beneath the tongue 8 and cause the" www 1 keyrreeeiving openings 16, `a two-prongedy edge portionl of theenruilus z6' to "thread-liuto position between the edge portions yof the disksl() `and '11.

It'will be vunderstood lfrom the 'foregoing desoripti on that in placing the inflatable vbag Ain-the cover bag Bythe Valve of theinfiatable bag (not shown) lis positioned direetly opposite the opening.viin'the :cover bag B so that when theplug is removed,rae cess may "bereadilyfhad toIthe--valve 'ofithe -saidvi-nlatable bag A. After the innenfor inflatable 'bag A has 'beeninflated `or de-t diluted,4 as the onse lmay be, the plug :is :of

course replaced `in the .opening the cover bag B and in'orderthat it 4may `beffreudily turned into lpositionto elose'vthe said open ing, it is formed, with: dimnetrifmlly opposed key' such 4asshown inidotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings being engaged with theplug Land turned to'rotate the seine to' position.

In n device of the class described, a bag formed with an openinggvan annulus secured within the bag andvprojectingfinwardly vbeformed with asingle notch and letone side jeetingedge portion offthe vnnnulus being `formedfwitl1=a=notch endet one side of the `notch* fwith nl bent ftongue, `the closure being vrotatable "into .the opening with the -snid projecting edge portionrl" the `annulus :re-

ceived betweenr the-spaced edge portions of "the disks ofthe closure, the -said'bent tongues cooperating atithebeginning of' such rotative movement.

'In testimony that I elaim'the foregoing as my fown, II yhave"heretoaiixed my rsigna- `:ture 1n the presence of two vwltnesses.

JOHN E. "WHISTLER vVitnesses ELDER, C. A. YEDWARDS. 

